Improvement in governors



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N. PETERS. FHOTOLITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. 11C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. v

WILLIAM F. BURDEN, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN GOVERNORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,2 [5, dated April 21, 1863.

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. BURDEN, of Troy, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Governor; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a common engine-governor having my improvement applied to it. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the governor, showing by the aid of red lines the friction-wheel in two positions. Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 2, taken in the horizontal plane indicated by the course of the red line as 00 marked thereon.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the three figures.

The nature of this invention consists in the interposition of adjustable frictional gearwheels, or the equivalent thereof, between the crank-shaft and the spindle of the governor, for increasing or diminishing the velocity of the governor, and thereby varying the speed of the engine at pleasure, while the engine is either in motion or at rest, as will be hereinafter set forth.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The accompanying drawings represent a common ball-governor for steam-engines, to

.which my invention is applied.

A is the crank-shaft of the engine, mounted in journal-boxes B B, and carrying on one end the usual crank, A, to which motion is communicated directly from the fly-wheel shaft in the usual manner. 0 is the armed bracket which supports the governor-spindle a in the arms 0 C The arms I) b of governor-balls D D are pivoted at their upper ends to the ears of collar 1), which is secured rigidly to and turns with the spindle a. The pivoted rods 0 0 connect the arms b b of the governor-balls D D to the sliding collar 0, which plays up and down loosely on the spindle a. The space between pin d and fixed flange d determines the vertical play of the collar 0. The lever E, which is pivoted at e to the standard G, communicates motion from the governor to the stem of the steam-valve in the usual manner common to engine-governors.

The spindle a carries on its lowermost end a friction-Wheel, F, which may be made of any required diameter or thickness, and which may have its periphery covered with leather, or any equivalent substance, for producing friction. This wheel F is fitted upon the spindle a, under the arm 0 by means of a feather, key-tenon c, or by making the lower end of the spindle square, so that while a vertical movement may be given to this friction-wheel F, it will also be allowed to rotate with the spindle a. The hand-lever G, which is pivoted at g to the standard 0, is connected by pivots to the hub of the friction-wheel F in such a manner that this friction-wheel can be raised or depressed by the lever G without interfering with the rotary motion of the friction-wheel or spindle a or causing the hub of this wheel to bind on the spindle, as will be hereinafter described.

The lever G is connected to a slotted arc, G, by means of a screw-bolt, h, and settingnut h. The are G is described from the axis of motion of the lever G, and by means of the setting-nut it this lever, and consequently the friction-wheel F, to which the lever is pivoted, can be adjusted and fixed at any desired point between the extremities of the arc.

Below the horizontal friction-wheel F is the crank-shaft A, the axis of which is in a vertical plane with the axis of the spindle a. To this crank-shaft A is keyed, in any suitable manner, the large platewheel J, the inside surface of which, being perfectly flat, is in close contiguity with the periphery or friction surface of the friction-wheel F. The platewheel J thus communicates motion to the friction-wheel F, and this latter wheel transmits this motion to the spindle a. The diameter of the plate-wheel J is regulated with respect to the amount of vertical play it is desired to allow the friction-wheel F and the speed with which it is desired to run'the enine. b The spindle has its top bearing in the box 1 of bracket-arm 0, and its lower bearing in the box 2" of the bracket-arm C The two annular flanges d d support the spindle a and keep it in its place.

The friction-wheel F is prevented from binding on the spindle a by pivoting the adjusting-lever G to two short segments, a n, which have a free circular play in an annular groove formed in the hub of the wheel F. The lever G has a yoke, p,formed on it, which surrounds the hub of the wheel I and the screw-pivots a" 1' pass through this yoked portion of the lever and enter depressions which are made in the middle of the segments n a, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The segments r r are concentric with the axis of wheel F, and they play around in their groove, so as to compensate for the outward thrust of the lever G in describing its arc of a circle. The frictionwheel can thus be raised or depressed vertically by means of the pivoted lever G.

From the above description it will be seen that the governor-spindle a receives its rotary motion from the crank-shaft A, through the medium of the large plate-wheel J and small friction-wheel F, the periphery of which latter is kept in close contact with the platewheel. It will also be seen that the frictionwheel F can be adjusted vertically on spindle a with reference to the axis of the crank-shaft A, and secured in any desired position by means of the lever G and setting-nut h, as above described. These adjustments of the friction-wheel F will increase or diminish the velocity of the governor in proportion as this wheel is made to approach or recede from the axis of the driving plate-wheel J. In this manner the engine may be runand regulated at any given velocity and varied so as to in crease or diminish the velocity at pleasure,

when the engine is either in motion or at rest. I would suggest, as a modification of the friction-wheel F and friction-plate J, a disk, J, with a series of toothed rings, and a wheel, F, with teeth on its circumference, the number of teeth in the respective rings to be graduated to suit speeds required. I, however, prefer frictional gearing, as it is the cheapest, less liable to get out of order, admits of nicer adjustments, and works with less noise or clash.

I wish it to be understood that my invention is not limited to any particular location, nor to a direct action of the crank-shaft upon the wheel of the spindle, as in many instances intermediate gearing between the crank-shaft and the gear-wheels may be required. I have shown the disk F on the crank-shaft as one convenient way of applying the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The employment of adjustable frictional gearing, when interposed between the crankshaft and governorspindle of an engine, essentially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

2. The auxiliary device so applied in connection with a governor that the engine can be set to run at any desired speed and yet be controlled by the same governor, substantially 

